It's one thing to say we didn't see the Messiah and another to say we didn't see Baha'u'llah. We are looking at Baha'u'llah and the things he said and the religion he brought. And many of us have several issues with the religion. He is not clearly the Messiah. Jesus was not clearly the Messiah. Same with Muhammad and The Bab. We are investigating and trying to see if what Baha'u'llah and the Baha'i Faith are saying is the truth.
Good morning CG, hope all is well today and life is happy. I do not do long posts well, never have,
I will address your post is sections, as individual points.
With this comment you are on the right path as it is a personal search based in reason. It is you that has to balance the reason.
What is clarity? What I see clear, others do not. Thus I guess we can only keep putting forward our ideas and let the varied opinions clash, to see if more clarity is found. RF has been a great platform for me to find some clarity that I had not previously considered.
In all of history, when we consider the verses given in all scriptures about a day of peace that would be world embracing, the first question I ask myself, is what other Message has had the potential to acheive those visions?
If we look at what was known about the world at this link
Early world maps - Wikipedia then we can see it was only as we approach the 1800's that we can even consider a message can be given to the entire human race.
Thus we can tick some prophecy boxes that mention a world event and it is reasonable to expect that the event foretold of the Messiah is possible from around this time forward.
If we look at the literal translation of the Hebrew word mashiach (messiah) is "anointed" Thus Christ means 'Anointed One'. Muhammad was also Anointed with a Message as was the Bab and Baha'ullah.
Other uses of the word are;
1. 'The promised deliverer of the Jewish nation prophesied in the Hebrew Bible'. This is specific to the end of ages Message. I would ask has any other Message corresponded to the return to Holy Land by the Jews, but for the Message of Baha'u'llah. Ironically exiled by the Muslims to fulfill prophecy?
2. 'A leader regarded as the Savior of a particular country, group, or cause', Which then can be any Anointed Messenger in any part of the world.
Thus you can see the complexity of just one point you have raised and how much reason is part of Faith, we have a lot to digest a lot to consider.
Regards Tony